Ilkey (Gyro club Troutbeck Hotel) : 12 mars 1967

Le concert n'a semble-t-il pas eu lieu... La police étant intervenu dès le début du show sous prétexte que la salle trop petite contenait beaucoup trop de monde ! Une porte aurait été arrachée, des verres brisés... Un vrai chaos précise Just Ask The Axis !

Citation :

purple jim a dit : Il paraît qui le gig a eu lieu (pour 5 minutes !) :



"Ilkley. Not exactly the capital of Rock 'n' Roll. But for one night in 1967, this genteel West Yorkshire spa town got everyone talking thanks to the legendary Jimi Hendrix's unforgettable gig at the posh Troutbeck Hotel! You've been sending in your memories of the night to help BBC Look North and the BBC West Yorkshire website mark a very special rock'n'roll anniversary! But first of all, why not relive those heady days of the..err...Spring of Love?!

It was March 12th 1967 that this surprising footnote to rock history took place. Jimi and his band The Experience had travelled to Ilkley after a poorly-attended date earlier that evening at Leeds' International Club. Even legends have to start somewhere, but whereas he'd been met with relative indifference in Leeds, Ilkley would be a different matter...

The Troutbeck Hotel was the venue for Hendrix's historic gig, and it was dangerously over-full before the band even took to the stage. Reports suggest up to 900 fans squeezed in, a mere 700 people more than the place could accommodate! Of course, this broke all the hotel's regulations and licences, but things were different in those days...

As the gig heated-up, Ilkley policeman Tom Chapman decided enough was enough and stopped the gig. One boy in blue versus nearly a thousand Blues fans was never going to end well - and Hendrix just kept on playing. What happens next is unclear - some say there was a 'riot', others say people just went on their way. For his part, Tom Chapman denies there was big trouble.

Whatever happened the night Jimi Hendrix came to Ilkley, it will remain in rock legend forever. Ilkley had seen nothing like it before, and it probably hasn't since! For a fleeting moment the town was at the beating heart of rock'n'roll - even if it was for one night only!"

TEMOIGNAGE :
Nadia, Bradford:
"I was at the Troutbeck Hotel on the night Jimi Hendrix played along with my best friend Christine and another friend Jackie. I had never heard of him before then and we were at a loss for somewhere to go that Sunday night so we decided to hitchhike to Ilkley from Keighley as someone had told us there was a band on at the Troutbeck. I remember thinking he was the most ugliest bloke I had ever seen. The three of us were all mods and Christine was brilliant at sewing and used to make unusual outfits for herself and me. I remember this particular night Christine was wearing one of her creations a purple cat suit which had bell bottom trousers, low on the midriff, and there were holes cut out in the top and trimmed with silver lurex. We remember being in the dressing room with Jimi Hendrix when he looked Christine up and down and exclaimed "HEY PURPLE HAZE" to this day Christine is convinced that the song Purple Haze was inspired about her cat suit! Jackie went off with Jimi and we never saw her again that night. She never came home with us that's for sure. Both Christine and I are very surprised at the reports that say there were up to 900 fans at the Troutbeck that night as we remember there being more around 60 "if that". We remember being evacuated outside because there was some smoke and standing with Jimi and the rest of the band. When Jimi was playing on stage we remember him playing his guitar at the back of his head and then with his teeth, we had never seen anything like that before. We do not remember any riots breaking out (with less than 60 people it would be hard to imagine). I wish now that I should have got his autograph or something!!!"

Source :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/content/articles/2006/09/18/hendrix_ilkley_feature.shtml

TEMOIGNAGE 2

"In March '67 I was taking photographs on Briggate and a car pulled up and Jimi got out for a look around. I recognised him straight away as I was a huge blues fan and thought he was a one of the greatest blues guitarists I had ever heard. I approached him and asked him what he was doing in Leeds, he replied he was playing a gig at Ilkley that night and seeing my friend and I had what passed for professional cameras in those days, asked if we would like to come to Ilkley that evening to take photos of him playing. We said yes and rushed back home to cadge a lift. When we arrived, the place was heaving with people and thought we wouldn't get in. So we found someone who worked there and told them Jimi had asked us to come and take photos of him. To our surprise we were ushered into Jimi's dressing room! We spent an hour there chatting with Jimi, Mitch and Noel before the gig.
It was then time to start and we, along with the band, pushed our way to the small stage. The room was dark and really packed but the atmosphere was electric as Jimi started to play. I think I took a couple of grainy photos but then a burly policeman pushed his way past and stepped onto the stage to halt the gig on safety grounds. There was a huge uproar but it was clear the gig was over - Jimi had been on stage for about five minutes, or even less. A great disappointment, as sadly I lost those two photos, but will always remember that night and what a nice shy guy Jimi was."
Colin Thornton

Source :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/content/articles/2007/02/21/music_features_hendrix_in_leeds_feature.shtml

TEMOIGNAGE 3
Danny Pollock qui avait organisé les concerts dans le nord-est d'Angleterre.

"Yes, Jimi Hendrix definitely played Ilkley. I know that because I booked him through the Zenith Agency that I ran, and I put him on at these venues with my pal Stuart Frais through our joint promotions company S&D Enterprises.
Regarding the local Hendrix gigs, I booked him for a Friday, Saturday and Sunday through my agency, Zenith Agency & Management, which also booked many excellent local bands of the day.
After seeing Jimi on Top Of The Pops I booked him for three nights at £50 per night via the Harold Davidson Agency in London. The dates were a few weeks ahead. The first gig was somewhere in the Midlands, Mansfield I think, the Saturday was at the International Club in Chapeltown in Leeds (which may be vying for his poorest reception ever), and the Sunday was at The Troutbeck Hotel in Ilkley.
By the time Jimi was due to play there he'd become the hottest act in the country. One slight problem was that his manager had not returned the signed contract to me...We were quite concerned that it could be a no-show as they could have earned much more than £150 for three nights work by that time. No worries, the atmosphere was electric as Jimi took the stage - but is was over all too soon when the police stopped the show.
Stuart and I retreated to the dressing room with Jimi and the band. Then we organised refunds at the door for everyone as [g]Jimi had only performed one or two numbers[/g]. There was a little bit of trouble, but nothing major. A small number of dishonest customers somehow managed to return and get two refunds which meant that we were not able to refund everyone on the night. A couple of paintings were damaged on a wall by disappointed customers - and it was reported in the northern edition of the Daily Express as "Riot at Ilkley Hotel". I don't know what that particular reporter was on!
After the gig and back at the flat we were hanging out with Jimi and the band (now there's a story to dine on). My recollection of Jimi was that he was quiet, polite, friendly, and funny - and he enjoyed a nice cup of tea. Wish I'd had a video camera!"

TEMOIGNAGE 4
"The Troutbeck Hotel was dangerously over- packed before the band took the stage.
Hendrix and his band thundered through the first number a typically nonchalant fashion. It's easy to imagine that the psychedelic vibes of London's Marquee and U.F.O club hadn't resonated as far north as Ilkley. As the audience rose to the challenge of the sonic onslaught of one man and his Fender Stratocaster; members of the crowd began to clamber over furniture and even other people in order to achieve a better view of the guitar genius.
Halfway through the second song, as the bank of Marshall amps were cranked to the point of staving in anyone's head whom dared get too close, a nervous police chief stepped onto the stage to stop the show. It was probably the worst decision he ever made.
As the band dolefully resigned themselves back to the dressing room, the audience who, by day, were bank clerks, school teachers and nurses, became a raging mob, hell bent on destruction. They tore fittings from the walls of the hotel; they smashed windows with chairs and any other makeshift wrecking implement that came to hand. They tried to storm the stage before spilling out into the crisp night air to eventually disperse and go their separate ways."

TEMOIGNAGE 5
"Later on that evening, a woman called Sheila Lilley was waiting to be served at Harry Ramsden’s famous fish shop. behind her in the line appeared none other than Jimi Hendrix dressed in psychadelic gear. He said to Sheila that he was sorry that the gig had to be cancelled after just one number. He signed her a photo. She still has it. Framed on the living room wall."

THE YORKSHIRE EVENING POST - ‘Chaos After Police Break Up Crowded Pop Show’
“There was chaos when police stopped a pop show last night. A door was ripped off its hinges, pictures were slashed and torn from their frames, electrical fittings and furniture were broken and the carpets were littered with broken glass at the Troutbeck Hotel, Ilkley. The Jimi Hendrix Experience were told to stop playing in the middle of their second number. Police told the audience of 800 that they would have to leave because the club was overcrowded. Jimi remarked “I wish they had let me play before emptying the club.”

ILKLEY GAZETTE - ‘Pop Fans Amok in Hotel’
“800 teenagers [running riot after police halted a pop concert] ‘in mid verse’. They ripped off doors, pulled out electrical fittings and smashed furniture after a police sergeant stepped on stage and stopped pop singer Jimi Hendrix half-way through a number.”
A ‘spokesman for the Troutbeck.’ said he was surprised how ‘quiet and orderly’ the fans were and said limited damage had been caused simply because there were so many of them.
A police officer confirmed this by telling the Gazette that no official complaints of vandalism had been received. He explained that officers were initially called to the hotel by residents because nearby roads were blocked by cars belonging to Hendrix fans. It was then discovered that the ballroom was seriously overcrowded and the decision taken to stop the concert in an attempt to reduce the audience to its legal limit of about 250. Chaos ensued and the concert did not resume.

THE YORKSHIRE POST
“700 in uproar at beat club after police stop show.” By Reginald Brace
“Uproar broke out on an Ilkley pop club last night when […] show because they thought the audience was too big for the […] A door was ripped off, pictures tor[…] drinking glasses smashed at the Gyro Club […] Hotel. The Performance, by the Jimi Hendrix Experience […] was not resumed.

Le concert est stoppé par la police, il y a trop de monde à l'intérieur du club, la salle est trop petite.

Jimi Hendrix déclare: "Je souhaite qu'ils me laissent d'abord jouer avant de vider le club..."